Tuesday, 12 January 2010

Not Frozen Yet

I'm still here, a little chilly but doing my best with the open fire in the lounge and a few electric heaters. Oh and lots of fleeces and woollies :-) I'm really grateful the landlord said I would be recompensed for the electricity - my meter is virtually smokin', it's whizzing around so fast :-(

So anyway, I am pressing on with the daily grind. This being redundant business is rather odd. I imagine retirement is a bit like this, but I always figured I'd have a bit more of a plan for when that happens. You know, like having a late-onset midlife crisis, dyeing my hair purple, buying a sports car, that sort of thing. This "being-on-the-dole" thing is rather different. I think it's because it's involuntary. I don't really want to be sat around all day. I am supposed to be working. I like going to work, well as long as it is not the soul-sucking Pit of Hades where I was last.

Anyway, I duly registered myself for Jobseeker's Allowance at the weekend and went for my meeting at the Jobcentre yesterday. I honestly never thought I'd end up on the dole queue again. I'm trying very hard to not feel like a failure. I was in this situation eight years ago, and here I am again back in it. Bugger. Mind you, last time I only lasted three weeks on the dole before I got a new job, but last time we weren't in the throes of a stinking recession. This time though, I have a much stronger CV and a defined area of expertise. So there's something in my favour.

Enough self-flagellation, on to happier subjects. It is finally starting to melt outside, so I managed to extract the car from its icy tomb and toddled off to Saltcoats. This was after my lovely plumber rolled up unannounced at 9am to have a look at the heating situation and found me in my dressing gown drinking tea. Hee. Poor man. I duly rolled up at the Jobcentre (after walking straight past it twice!) and did all the paperwork-stuff. I then had a surf round the charity shops, and came out with some VHS tapes to watch. £1 for three, you can't complain at that :-) A quick stop-off at the LYS for some purple yarn (for my Ravelympics project, more on that later) and some sewing thread for plying, then over to Ange's for a quick lunch, then onto Once A Sheep at Gourock for some quality yarn-fondling. Karen has a lovely shop there, not long opened, and has already parted me from fairly considerable quantities of cash already! She's an Ashford dealer, what can I say? I came back this trip with some more Ravelympics yarn - Kureyon, Silk Garden, Manos Wool Clasica and a bit of Debbie Bliss. Oh and an Ashford yarn gauge, because I've been looking for one for ages. I was very much in need of yarn-fondling, it has been a trying few days for several reasons, so this cheered me up muchly.

Spinning

A wee gallery of what I've been up to. (The last one is just some of my fibre waiting to be spun up - I needed another piccie for the mosaic!) I am LOVING spinning. It is so relaxing, and yet constructive. Big big fun. I'm still using the spindles as well, I'm currently spinning a very fine bluey-green which will be used to ply a thicker wheel-spun yarn - again for the Ravelympics. I can't spin super-fine on the wheel yet. More practice needed for that.

Ravelympics 2010

Okay. I signed up with the Completely Pointless group on Ravelry - Team Ooh, Shiny! (hahahahaha) and I'm planning to do a Berber Jacket, one of Jane Thornley's designs. Mine will be in blue-green as one colour, with purple-orange as the other. All stranded colourwork!!! I think I have all the yarn now that I need, a lot of Kureyon with various other bits and bobs. I'm also spinning for it as well, and dyeing both yarn and fibre. I'd like to use set-in sleeves rather than the drop-shoulder, but I don't think I'll have time to mess with the pattern. I'm sure drop-shoulders will be fine. I'd also kinda like to knit it in the round, and steek it, but again, not sure. I need to sit down with the pattern and have a really good look at it.

Yeah, so I'm crazy. What's new there? :-D

Well that's me, off to stoke up the fire a bit and think about going to Knit Night. I don't really want to go out, as it's cold out there and I have a cosy fire, and I also have a scratchy throat, but a bit of socialising would do me good and I need to get milk too :-)